Chris Teren & Traci Walter settled in with Thai food at the food court...

Whatever your favorite part of the Fair might be, the very best part is seeing so many friends there. It’s the time when summer really does seem to be closing down, as the kids are getting ready for school & university students have their last harrah & we all go the food court to visit with each other, as well as show off all the things we’ve been doing for the past year, in our gardens, in our farms, in our music studios, in our zucchini patches.

So, here is an 87-picture photo gallery of smiling faces from last week – see who you know, see who you remember, and I’ll bet you find yourself smiling back.

Sam & Jane Buck found someone to play with at the Fair....

Talia Loucks (left) and Lilly Price smile the miles away...

You always hope for good day to run, and we got it on Saturday, with a slightly cloudy morning with a little breeze off the ocean…perfect.

The 32nd running of what began life as the Record Run, became the Journal Run, and now is operated by Island Rec as the 8.8K Loop Run included several members of that first run thirty two years ago, as well as more than a few who weren’t even born then. The race was won in 30:25 by 37-year-old John Collins, with Travis Daniels & Nick Roberts right behind on the men’s side of things, while the women were paced by winner 19-year-old Chelsea Burns in 36:05, with Burns, Chelsea, with Gaylene Donner and Heli Suokko taking the next two spots.

Over 220 runners signed up for the run, ranging from little kids to folks in their 80s. To give you an idea of the wide range of our island friends who were running, I went & stationed myself at about the 3.5 mile mark (of the 5.5 mile run, to take photos of folks coming by in the first hour or so. Here’s a photo gallery of runners when you went by – see who you know! And here are the results, courtesy of Island Rec.

It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist; the threat is rather to life itself.
Rachel Carson, (1907-1964) The Sea Around Us, 1951

It's cool to see your dad coming around the corner, with two miles left to go....

You probably saw all the runners out on Pear Point Road for the 8.8K Loop Run this morning – over 200 runners & walkers took up the 5.5 mile challenge on a perfect running day…not too hot, not too cold, just right.

I got a bunch of pictures before my battery ran out. If you don’t mind I’ll sort ’em out & post ’em on Monday, ’cause I want to get over to the last day of the Fair.

See you there!

New superintendent Walt Wegener (right, shaking hands with me) was staffing the School District's booth at the Fair...

One of the great things about hanging out at the Fair is visiting with old friends & meeting new ones…I finally got a chance to meet up with our new interim school superintendent, Walt Wegener at the school district booth.

He’s a friendly guy with good ideas about how to direct the district through its present crunch…hope you get a chance to meet him soon.

(Here’s the writeup from when he was chosen in May, from the Update.) Looking over his background, I think we got us a good one.

Well, the San Juan County Fair wraps up today. Note to Rev & everybody putting on the Fair: This week, everyone I talked to says they weren’t able to come to the Fair till Saturday. That would be about seven bazillion people, or half the island (plus Lopez & Orcas & Waldron.)

It’s been a fun, crowded, energetic Fair this year – see you there for the last day today.

Photo from Tim Dustrude’s daily photo blog…check it out! And drop by his booth at the Fair!)

It all starts at 2pm....

Hey, the Livestock Auction this year is at 2pm on Saturday at the County Fair…here’s the word from Tammy Anderson:

Hi Ian!
Just want folks to join all the Livestock 4-H kids this Saturday at 2 pm over in the 4-H Arena at the Fair for the annual 4-H Livestock Auction.

The kids have been working hard throughout the year to raise their animals and provide the community with some outstanding beef, pork, lamb, poultry and eggs.  You can support these kids by bidding individually, with two to four folks splitting the cost or if you like you can “turn the animal back” to be reauctioned at the end, and the second winning proceeds go to the 4-H club.  Business owners, this is a great way to share with your employees.  Restaurant owners, please take note that this year we will once again be butchering to USDA standards if requested….so serve up some local meat to your patrons.

Oh, yeah….there are 15 pigs going to market this year…lots of ham and bacon to go around.  Hope to see you there!

Proud grandma Krispi Staude keeps an eye on the next two generations as Sarah Joy & Gabriel come to the island...

If they give an award for who came the farthest to come to the Fair this week, it might be Gabriel, born in January. His mom Sarah Joy Staude (FHHS ’96) came to the island from Costa Rica, and met up with grandma Krispi on Wednesday.

Papa Julio couldn’t come, so I sang “Me & Julio” on Wednesday during my turn to sing, to let him know we’re thinking of him (especially since Costa Rica looks like they’re a lock for going to the World Cup next year).

Tying it all together: Jan Bollwinkel-Smith's outfit was made of ties put together by Dodie from the Community Theatre costume shop....

What a great evening at the County Fair last night…twenty two folks dressed up using materials they found…somewhere. The rules basically said you gotta use – well, re-use – something, and make your outfit outa that. People made their outfits out of old Fair ribbons, discarded mail, aluminum foil, stuff from the beach, old ties, and more.

The winners were picked based on best use of recycled or found materials, best re-design or re-purposing of already-made clothing, originality & creativity. The top three were Arielle Mancuso in her mermaid outfit, Kevin Roth with his gloves, and Beth Spadafora in her junk mail, salsa lids trash fairy getup, with Kevin also gettingt he People’s Choice (loudest applause) award.

MC Eugene Cuomo ran a good show, and judges Ruth Offen of waterworks, Carrie King of Second Act, and I made brilliant choices, or so people told us later. The whole deal is the brainchild of Francie Hansen, who always has great ideas like this, and looked great in her wedding dress at the end.

Here is a portfolio of photos from the evening, shot by Josie Byington & Juan Lopez – see what you think!

Photo by Sandy Buckley....

Far as I can tell, Sandy Buckley’s pictures are just getting better & better. Here’s one she took at a baby shower earlier this year.

Photo by Sandy Buckley....

Far as I can tell, Sandy Buckley’s pictures are just getting better & better. Here’s one she took at a baby shower earlier this year.

Hearing that guitar legend Les Paul had passed away this week was pretty sad… his influence on the art of making a guitar sing was impossible to measure.

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.
Mohandas K. Gandhi

Amy from Peace Health had this announcement on Friday:

Digital Mammography to be Offered on San Juan Island

A newly renovated mammogram imaging facility, retrofitted to provide San Juan Island’s first digital mammography, was unveiled at a ribbon-cutting today at the Inter Island Medical Center (IIMC) in Friday Harbor.

The mammography facilities at IIMC were upgraded and will be operated by Mount Baker Imaging (MBI), a joint venture of PeaceHealth St. Joseph Hospital and Northwest Radiologists (NWR), both of Bellingham.  The facility is scheduled to begin providing digital imaging on Monday, Aug. 24 at the IIMC at 550 Spring St.
This imaging upgrade and PeaceHealth partnership is intended to help provide safe, evidence-based compassionate care for San Juan Island residents. Continue Reading

Tom is FF of the Month!

Hey! Keri from the Town wanted you to know a little more about this month’s Firefighter of the Month – here’s the Friday Harbor Fire Department’s Tom Eades’s responses to her questions:

NAME:  Tom Eades

FROM:

FAMILY/PETS ON ISLAND:  Girlfriend/No pets

FAVORITE FOOD:  All seafood.

FAVORITE MUSIC:  Primarily rock; but I can handle anything other than polkas!

HOBBIES:  Flying, Biking, Hiking, Boating, internet surfing

CAREER:  9-1-1 Dispatcher

HOW YOU ENDED UP INFH:  I got fired from my job at a Port Angeles radio station, and found out San Juan County was looking for dispatchers…

WHY YOU LIKE IT HERE:  Most the time, it’s scenic and peaceful

HARDEST PART ABOUT LIVING IN FH: Any trip anywhere is a minimum full-day experience.

POSITION IN FIRE DEPT:  Assistant Chief of Operations

WHY YOU JOINED: I’d always found the fire service intriguing, and thought it would be a good way to stay fit.

WHY YOU LIKE IT:  I love the action, the variety, and especially the camaraderie among firefighters.

MOST EXCITING THING ABOUT DEPT:  The extreme dynamics involved in firefighting; learning to master situations that scare a “normal” person.

HARDEST SKILL TO MASTER IN DEPT:  Political savvy.

OTHER VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: 19 years and counting w/San Juan EMS, 18 years with Fire Dist. 3, and five years on the board of the San Juan Pilots Association.

IDEAL DAY: Wake up at 8, have a huge breakfast, go fly somewhere in gorgeous weather!

FAVORITE SAYING, QUOTE: “Keep away from small people who try to belittle your ambitions.  Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
–Mark Twain

The WSF wanted you to know:

The WSDOT Ferries Division will delay the 10:00pm sailing from Friday Harbor on Saturday, August 15, to accommodate traffic leaving the San Juan County Fair.

The 10:00pm sailing from Friday Harbor will depart 30 minutes later than scheduled, at 10:30 pm. Subsequent departures from Orcas, Shaw and Lopez Islands will also be affected.

WSDOT is making this schedule adjustment on the last day of the fair to better serve the large number of customers returning home from the fair, and to help accommodate the transport of livestock returning to Orcas, Shaw and Lopez Islands that evening